He knew where Toronto was. Lee simply nodded at that knowledge. Then he started to explain how he had moved up here after getting out of the military to hopefully help with the crime issues that seemed rather specific to New York City. And because he'd heard that New York had places accepting of mutants.

It took a moment for that comment to properly sink in, but once it did, Lee turned a curious eye to Michael, trying to puzzle out whether he'd just said what she thought he'd said; if he was a mutant.

But before Lee could ponder that more, the man at her side was asking why she came to New York from Canada. Now the question was how to explain that without using her mutation as the main reason?

"Well, after I left my parents, I lived in Toronto for a time, then Windsor," Lee said. It was very vague, but it was the truth. "I liked the big city feel, but neither of those cities felt right, and if Toronto didn't fit, what was left for me in Canada? So I decided to give New York a try, and...it just feels like home. That was three years ago."

Lifting her glass, Lee finished the rest of the pop that had been in it, then looked around for Matt. Spotting him down the bar a ways, Lee waited till she caught his eye, then held her empty glass up.

It really didn't take long before Matt was making his way back, grabbing a bottle of beer on his way. Lee shook her head at him as he approached her. "Coke, Matt."

"Another Coke? Come on, Lee, you can't come in here and not have a drink."

"Tonight, I can," Lee told the bartender. "I'm on a 'walk', remember?"

The Ranger had caught that look in her eyes that he assumed meant she had surmised from his statement that he was in, in fact, a mutant. This assessment of course being an accurate one. The Ranger decided he would not outright say that he was a mutant until after he could asses her view on them. And he thought that statements alluding to the fact would perhaps draw out her opinions.

He listened as Lee gave a short description of how she had come to live in New York. It was a little bare bones of a story, but she had just met him so it made sense to withhold details. "So you have been here a while longer than myself." The Ranger stated and then raised his beer to take another drink. During which, Lee finished her coke and then made contact with Matt once again to acquire another.

"Hmm, it may just be me, but being in a bar doesn't seem all that much like a walk. Just sayin'."

Matt didn't look too happy, but nonetheless he turned to go put the beer back and to grab her another coke. Only for Lee to hear Michael beside her questioning her comment about being on a walk.

"Well, that's what I said I was doing when I left home," Lee said, turning to face Ranger again while she waited for her drink. "That's why I don't have my guitar here. I wanted to find out how my song sounded, but I wasn't ready to play it for my husband yet, so I told him I was going for a walk.

"Being able to smell beer on my breath when I get home isn't going to go well with my whole 'walk' excuse for being out, though."

The Ranger laughed a little at what Lee said, "Well I guess that works. And since this is New York City just walking around the streets makes your clothes smell like you went to a bar, so you're all good there." That fact had been something that somewhat annoyed him. The Ranger much preferred the air in less densely populated areas. Whether it be back home in Texas outside of a city somewhere or in a random section of Siberia with nary any indication of civilization.

"So how long have you been married?" The Ranger asked before taking another drink from his beer. The beer, of course, going to be his only as he would be driving when he left here.

Lee simply nodded when Michael mentioned how your clothing could end up smelling simply by being out on the street in this city. That was a definite, depending on where you went, you were more than able to pick up quite an aroma.

Then Michael asked how long she'd been married, and Lee frowned slightly as she counted. She'd never been very good about keeping track of how long she and Tarin had been together, or anniversaries, or whatever. "We got married just after Christmas, so I guess almost 8 months now."

Then Lee laughed slightly as she looked at Michael. "I guess that's not very long, is it?"

"Well than, congratulations!" The Ranger raised his beer and tilted his head down slightly and at an angle. Then setting his beer back onto the bar he continued, "Hey, it may not seem long but there are many, especially in large cities, that cain't last in a marriage longer than twenty-five minutes. Although, some'a them were married by a preacher... that looked just like the King." The Ranger laughed a little at his own comment, he couldn't see how people could do things as crazy as getting a quickie wedding in Vegas with an Elvis impersonator to someone they barely know.

Then a thought dawned on him, "Well how long were you supposed to be on this walk? Your husband might get worried if you stay out too long. Heck, I know if I was married I would be worried about my wife if she was out on a long walk in this city by 'erself."

Lee smiled when Michael congratulated her on her somewhat recent wedding. Really, eight months wasn't all that long, but so much had happened for her and Tarin since then that it almost seemed like they'd been married forever already.

But then he made a comment about how some people got their Vegas weddings done by an Elvis impersonator, and Lee simply shook her head. "I don't have any idea how people can do that," she said. "I mean, Vegas was great, really great, but I don't know how someone could think getting married by an Elvis impersonator is a good idea."

And then the big question: how long was she supposed to be out on this 'walk'? Lee thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know, probably a couple of hours," Lee admitted, looking up at Michael after a moment. "I exercise a lot, so he'd probably start worrying more if my walk wasn't long enough."

"Okay, well I was just makin' sure I didn't keep you here too long or anythin'." The Ranger began, "and good for you, not enough people exercise now a days. Almost like they're askin' for a heart attack." The Ranger put a decent amount of stress behind his last statement. His time in the military had taught him to take an active role in his own fitness and from that came a respect for those who did the same.

"So Lee, what do you and your husband do for a livin'?...If you don't mind me askin'?"

As Michael spoke, Lee simply nodded. Yeah, because exercising was really going to hold off a heart attack for her, or for Tarin. Their trip to Florida could have easily seen to that. And with how much stress they were frequently under...

Lee simply nodded and took a sip of her coke. There was really no point into going into all of that. Besides, she really wasn't into the exercise to stay healthy, it was more to just get rid of energy.

And then Michael asked what she and Tarin did for a living. What did they do? You mean, other than run around the world, helping their 18-year-old boss force peace where none could be found?

"We own a little shop," Lee settled on saying as she set her glass back down on the bar. "It's really not much, but it pays the bills."

"Well yall must be a heck of a entrepreneurial team. Runnin' a small business in this city of corporate giants...and in a recession no less!" The Ranger took another drink from the beer before he continued. "Heck, the recession is hurtin' me like hell and my business is run out of and mostly deals in Texas where the recession isn't as bed."

His mind going to the thought of his company the Ranger slid out his G1 and turned on the screen to check if he had received any pressing emails or phone calls that he would have missed due to the volume in the bar. A few emails, but nothing needing immediate attention.

Lee simply shrugged at Michael's comment about their entrepreneurial skills. Though, things were better now that she was running the books for the shop, and now that they'd added some extra things that were actually for sale, but Lee figured their success had less to do with business skills and more to do with what they offered. The shop had been closed quite a bit over the last year, after all, and they were still doing well with it.

"Recession or not," Lee ended up replying as she watched Michael take a sip of his beer. "We don't have a whole lot of competition, even in a city like this, so thankfully we haven't been hit too badly."

Just then, Lee saw Michael pull out his cell phone, checking something or other on it. "I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"

"Oh no, it's fine. I normally don't have too many important messages anymore. I am trying to slide out of the way and let those who know what they're doin' run the show." The Ranger hit a button and turned the screen off and then slid it back into his pocket.

"So than, what kind'a shop do yall run that there idn't a lot of competition?" The Ranger asked, it seemed like anything you could ever want there was a massive corporation that could provide it to you with prices that bullied out small businesses. The Ranger lifted his beer to finish it off as he let her reply.

As he lowered the beer to set the empty bottle on the bar he suddenly realized he had seen this woman before. She was one of those who had gathered at King Pharmaceuticals, she was the one who had been nailed by a flying head! After stopping his arm for a second when the realization occurred he set down the bottle and said with a slightly more serious tone, only loud enough for her to hear, "You know, now that I think about it, I've seen you before. You were at King Pharmaceuticals the day'a that wild mutant battle, weren't you?"

And of course, the inevitable 'what kind of shop is it' question was asked. Well, there really wasn't much point in lying, they did have the shop where they advertised what Tarin did all over the place. But at the same time, there was absolutely no reason to indicate that Tarin was anything more than a normal, scamming medium, was there?

"My husband's a medium," Lee replied softly. Well, as softly as she could in the middle of a bar. "You know, he can communicate with spirits. I simply handle the books, keep track of appointments, stuff like that."

Lee was going to leave it there, hopefully Michael wouldn't be too interested in the whole idea that he'd press her about it further.

After she had said this, though, Michael's expression got much more serious as he looked at her. And then he said that he'd seen her before. Well, that was possible, Lee supposed, she did go walking in the area quite often. He might be from Texas, but if the man had been in around the area here at all, it was quite possible...

Lee's entire thought was cut short as the man standing with her at the bar went on, her eyes widening in shock at what he said. He'd seen her there? That...that was not good. She'd thought that her and Tarin had managed to get out of there without a problem.

"You think I was where?" Lee asked, a note of incredulity in her voice. "You're kidding, right? Why would I have gone anywhere near something like that?"

Sure, it was better now than it had once been to be identified as a mutant, but that didn't mean she wanted to be identified as a mutant who'd been in that particular incident.

At the mention of the Ranger seeing Lee at King Pharmaceuticals Lee's eyes widened. She then returned with a string of questions acting as her deniability. The Ranger didn't buy it, he had a good eye for faces, he would have had to if he wanted to have any form of success inside SOCOM's forces. He assumed that she would deny it because an admission would reveal she was a mutant.

"I've no idea why you'd be there," The Ranger began in response, keeping his voice low. "Hell I don't know why anyone was there, but that is beside the point. I defiantly saw you there on the side opposite those whom I know to be villainous. And if my assumptions are correct y're a mutan' and not wantin' it known. Don't worry though, I'm a mutan' too."

The Ranger moved from leaning on the bar to standing straight, he didn't believe the girl would make an aggressive move even though he was backing her into the proverbial corner, but it didn't hurt to at least be ready in case she did.

Michael didn't seem to buy her denial that she hadn't been at the brawl at King Pharmaceuticals. Why the hell couldn't he just believe her? Then they could get past the fact that she was a mutant, they could stop talking about that, and no one else in the bar could over hear that fact.

At that thought, Lee focused on her siphoning; the bar was rather crowded, but she didn't feel too many people too close behind her. And with a quick glance to the other side of the bar out of the corner of her eye, Lee saw that Matt was no where to be seen. That, at least, was good.

And then she heard the man standing there with her, who had since straightened up his posture, confide in her that he was also a mutant. "I'd be careful who you tell you're a mutant," Lee said to the man. "I know the Registration Act's been repealed, but I have a friend who would throw his coffee at you simply for that fact and it wouldn't even faze him other than over the loss of a perfectly good cup of coffee, and I'm sure he's not the only person like that in this city."